CONSIGNIA, the new name for the Post Office, today admitted it sent hundreds of letters to its staff to the wrong addresses.

About 1,300 notices containing private pension details have been posted to people who do not even work for the company.

Consignia blamed a computer problem for mixing together different parts of addresses in the mail-outs, meaning pension information has been sent to complete strangers.

David Browne, a retired journalist living in north London, said he had received a letter about the pension contributions of a Mr Singh, living in Great Barr, Birmingham.

Mr Browne, 51, who has no connection with the Post Office, said: "It's ridiculous when the Post Office can't even send a letter without getting it wrong. The address is completely mixed up even though it has come from the Post Office itself.

"My letter went to the postcode NW8, then must have been redirected to N15 and then E1.

"But what they failed to realise was that sending it around London wasn't going to help - the man it was for lives in Great Barr, in Birmingham.

"So now they've sent me his pension details. It's outrageous and a huge mistake. And this is the new Post Office."

A woman answering a helpline at Consignia's pensions department, based in Chesterfield, said: "We have had an error which means half the address is incorrect.

"It has affected about 1,300 letters, so as you can imagine it's causing a few difficulties. We're getting a lot of calls."

She said anybody receiving such a letter in error should redirect it to: AVC, Roland Hill House, Chesterfield, S49 1HQ.